How is that holding the sport back?? Disc golf is no different than any other community in that you have a lot of good people with a few bad apples mixed in. This is not unique to disc golf.

If people get a bad experience like getting new plastic stolen, it deters them from playing more, and can potentially lead them to stop playing if it happens repeatedly, hence hindering growth and holding the sport back.

People quitting the game means less disc sales and tournament entries, which in turn means less money going into the game. This reduced revenue decreases the power of the various companies to increase their market presence or to reach out to new demographics.